2 - Navio

This was not the way he wanted to spend his Friday. They flew the first flight from San Jose that morning to administer this installation. He did not want to be here. A hot date waited for him later that evening, and he was going to play hookey all day. But Clara needed him and Jeremy to go with her to San Diego because somebody double booked their technicians. And since he and his siblings are trained enough to do the camera and systems installations, they were always on call for backup whenever needed. 

Plus, they could not re-schedule the job for this specific company, Navio, the biggest shipping company in the western hemisphere, because this was their ticket to get into the big leagues. If they get this under their belt it could open all the doors to other bigger industries. And that would be good for their company, SST, Security and Software Technologies. Clara, his sister, has worked hard to bring it up to the standard it’s on right now, almost up there with the big companies, but not quite. So they needed a boost.

Jeremy was busy up on the ladder installing the cameras while he held the ladder and hand him the cables and mind whatever he was doing, but he had sex on the brain. He had been trying to bed the girl he will date that night, and Clara thwarted his efforts. 

So instead, he focused his attention on his surroundings. All these women around him were making the hair on the back of his neck bristle. Max was aware that they were staring at them, ogling them, and it was second nature for him to want to flirt. He would sneak glances at the staff whenever he needed to strip casing off a wire. He was trying to scope out a target that would help him pass the time. 

He saw her walking past, and boy, was she pretty. She was oblivious to his presence as she made her way across the hallway, saying hi to her fellow office mates. He wondered what department she belonged to, suddenly noticing the enormous amount of women surrounding him. Like men were not allowed on this floor.

He was trying to listen and get her name from the people saying hi to her, but Jeremy decided it was the right time to bug him.

'Max, I need more wiring,' Jeremy said from above the ladder.

'And I need another clamp, and give me the crimper as well,' he added.

'Max! Max!' he yelled.

'What?' he hissed back, getting irritated because Jeremy chose that exact time to yell when someone called the woman’s name.

'You are not listening to me. Give me more wire, the clamp, and the crimper,' Jeremy repeated.

Max looked around, and the hot morsel disappeared. 'Fuck!' he hissed under his breath.

Jeremy whacked him in the head. 

'Ow! What the fuck!' 'What the fuck, man? Are you ogling the women again?' They said simultaneously and started punching each other in the arm like they used to do when they argued as kids.

'Stop it! I’m older than you,' Max tried to establish his dominance.

'Yeah, but you’re irresponsible. If Clara sees us like this, we’ll never hear the end of this.' Jeremy replied. 'Let’s finish this so we can go back to the hotel. I have a ton of stuff to do.'

'Max, why don’t you go up there, so you don’t get too distracted.'

'Fine, you owe me. I lost the lovely lady I wanted to talk to.' he replied as he looked around one last time to see if the woman he spotted earlier was still around. No use now trying to find out who she is, he did not want to appear like he was a stalker.

They were just finishing with the last camera when Clara came by to see their progress and install the RFID* stickers in this room, and it looked like they were on schedule. 

After the installation, they will demonstrate the product to Sebastian Colfer, CEO of Navio. Max had met with him before, and he seemed like a good enough guy, and he hoped he would approve of their system and close the deal. Max had worked extra hard to get his presentation with the security department and the CEO ready. It was his proudest moment when Mr. Colfer agreed to a 6 month trial period. It was better than getting a rejection. The contract did not stipulate a trial period, but if that is what he wanted, then that is what he would get.

'This entire office has freaking perverts running around. I just got harassed by someone in the other department, but the CEO was watching, so he caught the asshole trying to touch me. Oh, I’m so pissed off, and my skin is crawling in disgust. Plus, this guy was ugly too. Ugh!'

'What happened? Someone tried to lay a finger on you?' Jeremy asked, his face getting stern, his body going rigid. He was very protective of Clara, and he did not like her stories of men harassing her all the time.

'This guy kept on following me around, staring at my butt. He even propositioned me to join this company, so I don’t need to bend over too much, only after work hours.'

'What?' they asked in unison. Max and Jeremy looked at each other with a frown. They were ready to murder somebody.

'So he tried to touch me, and I twisted his arm. That bugger can’t mess with me. Then I think the CEO stepped in, and security escorted him out of the office.'

'CEO? You met with the CEO already?' Max asked.

'Yeah, I told him to go back to his office and wait for us there.'

Jeremy looked at her, flabbergasted. 'What exactly did you say? Did you piss him off?'

'No,' she answered defensively. 'I just told Mr. Colfer I could finish faster if he would leave.'

Max had his mouth wide open. 'What? I was installing the RFID. He was in the way and was asking way too many questions.'

'Clara, did you just fuck up this deal with your sharp tongue?' Max asked. He did not know what emotion he should feel. His sister was a smart mouth and didn’t have a filter. He was glad that she got rid of the guy harassing her, but upsetting the CEO might mean bad things for them. 

-=-=-

RFID - technical term - Radio Frequency Identification, a wireless non-contact use of radio frequency waves to transfer data. 

In this story, it is part of the security system installed by the company headed by Clara. This is purely fictional and not the actual use of an RFID in real life.